Natural economy

“ The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology, and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive, and sustainable. ”

“ Economic growth has liberated societies from the natural pressures that forced them into an immediate struggle for survival; but they have not yet been liberated from their liberator. The commodity’s independence has spread to the entire economy it now dominates. This economy has transformed the world, but it has merely transformed it into a world dominated by the economy. ”

“ Without Land, Labor would be powerless to produce Artificial Objects. But Land is abundant in all varieties. Trees grow in forests, minerals repose in the earth, the soil offers itself to the farmer, the sea to the sailor, solid ground to the builder, flowing streams to all. Together with the winds, the lightning,52 the snow, the rain and all the other subtle and mysterious forces of Nature, those Natural Resources respond freely to the multifarious energies, the broadening knowledge of natural law, and the intensifying skill of Labor. ”

“ What would our forests be worth without vigorous and intelligent men to make use of them? Why should we conserve our natural resources, unless we can by the magic of industry transmute them into the wealth of the world? ”

“ Now in the early stages of human development, it is the natural environment, the fertility of the soil, climatic conditions, abundance of game, fish, etc., which is all-important, but with the progress of civilization, the natural environment loses in relative importance, and the economic environment (machinery, factories, improved appliances, etc.) grows in importance until in our day the economic environment has become well nigh all-important. ”

“ The present amount of trade is inconsiderable, but if ever these regions can attain to the elementary conditions of good government the development of their natural resources must entail a vast increase of business. ”

“ We envisage a world in which every country enjoys sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all. A world in which consumption and production patterns and use of all natural resources – from air to land, from rivers, lakes and aquifers to oceans and seas – are sustainable. ”

“ Is it not time to turn from the perspective of history to the realities of the present day economic organizations? Here, in the twentieth century, civilization of the Western World is an economic system which automatically turns into the coffers of those who control the natural resources (forests, ore, coal, fertile land) an endless stream of wealth. ”

“ We declare our firm conviction that this conservation of our natural resources is a subject of transcendent importance which should engage unremittingly the attention of the nation, the States, and the people in earnest cooperation. These natural resources include the land on which we live and which yields our food; the living waters which fertilize the soil, supply power, and form great avenues of commerce; the forests which yield the materials for our homes, prevent erosion of the soil, and conserve the navigation and other uses of the streams ”

“ What we would do with the Nation's natural resources--its soils and water, forests and grasslands. Would we continue the strong conservation movement of the 1930's, or would we, as we did after the First World War, slip back into the practices of monopoly, exploitation, and waste? ”

“ With science-based planning and research, we have sought to achieve a balance between strengthening protections for wildlife and water quality and providing a steady, sustainable supply of the building materials, paper products, and other commodities we need to meet the challenges of our growing economy. ”

“ As to land, it has been shown that, except as affording mere room and standing ground, the importance of land, great as it may be, is secondary. The one thing needful for economic production is the green plant, as the sole producer of vital capital from natural inorganic bodies. Men might exist without labour (in the ordinary sense) and without land; without plants they must inevitably perish. ”

“ Support investments that contribute to sustainable food security and further conservation and sustainable utilization and management of natural resources, including land, water, watersheds, fisheries and forests ”

“ If we look to history for the other side of the picture—for instances where business prosperity has gone on without interruption as long as natural resources have been conserved and intelligently maintained—we find them so well defined as to lead to but one conclusion. ”

“ To supply these necessities an industry is created—the business of agriculture—the most important industry in all the world. An industry of such fundamental importance, moreover, should receive from the states and from the federal government financial consideration in proportion to its moral and economic importance as well as to the probabilities that may be entertained for its continued improvement. For abundant as are earth's natural resources, yet without the aid and direction of human intelligence they could not supply the world's ever increasing population with food, clothing and shelter. ”

“ Permeating the vast economy of nature through its grandest and its minutest ramifications; nursing from its myriad fountains and reservoirs the vitality of creation; affecting and controlling the salubrity of climates, the purity and temperature of atmospheres, the fertility of soils; moistening the parched lips, and requickening the energies of vegetation; bearing all the necessaries and all the luxuries of life, all that industry can furnish or opulence procure, into the centre of immense continents, and up to the doors of populous cities ”

“ Labour, like all other things which are purchased and sold, and which may be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural and its market price. The natural price of labour is that price which is necessary to enable the labourers, one with another, to subsist and to perpetuate their race, without either increase or diminution. ”

“ Leaving the free forces of nature, surrounded by which we live and work, out of consideration, and also the fact that all raw material is due to nature, land is the indispensable foundation of all economy. ”

“ If they will continue industrious and thrifty, contented with fair wages and moderate profits, and the returns which accrue from the development of oar natural resources, our prosperity will extend itself indefinitely. ”

“ Farm machinery of all descriptions has revolutionized the old methods of doing farm work. The fish, game, and birds are largely gone and in their [Pg 5] place are the animal foods raised by man. Modern houses, filled with countless devices for labor-saving and comfort, have replaced the simple homes of colonial days.
What has brought about this change? The energy and industry of American men and women, aided for the most part by American inventions, and made possible by the wonderful natural resources of America. ”

“ You wish a review of such conservation facts as are really worth while in development. 4. You know how natural resources control industrial development. 5. You agree that the leading resources in the United States are mineral fuels, iron, water, soil, plant and animal life, the varying importance in the distribution of which determines to a considerable extent the locations of industrial and commercial centers, and that these resources are not distributed according to state lines, but that development is influenced to some extent by State laws. ”

“ But in seeking to advance the prosperity of your state, you should always take into consideration the climate, as well as the material elements of wealth. The geographical distribution of labor is regulated by natural laws, which we may not with impunity ignore: wherefore, in seeking to foster this or that branch of industry, these laws should be carefully studied. ”

“ And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources, we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course. ”

“ Shall we not now seek to learn which of the natural resources of our land will never be replaced if we squander them? Let us also learn which may be made good again by Nature, if we are willing to wait long enough, as well as to assist her in her slow work. ”

“ Objective 3.1 To pursue, through participatory means, sustainable, intensified and diversified food production, increasing productivity, efficiency, safety gains, pest control and reduced wastes and losses, taking fully into account the need to sustain natural resources. ”

“ Nature.—When men learn to meet their wants by exertion in accord with nature's ways, they are said to use the forces of nature in production of wealth. Every accumulation of materials for satisfying future needs implies some control over natural objects. If advantage is taken of natural motions or other activities to bring about larger accumulation, the man whose plans secure this has gained control over, and so property-rights in, the natural force which he has harnessed. ”

“ The discovery and production of commodities require a knowledge of the distribution of geological formations for mineral products, of the natural distribution, life-conditions and cultivation or breeding of plants and animals and of the labour market. Attention must also be paid to the artificial restrictions of political geography, to the legislative restrictions bearing on labour and trade as imposed in different countries, and, above all, to the incessant fluctuations of the economic conditions of supply and demand and the combinations of capitalists or workers which affect the market. ”

“ The commercial exploitation of natural resources, being fundamental to modern civilization, attracts a liberal share of the talents and energies of workers trained for the industrial professions. A second trend has specialized in the further development of the sciences which are characteristic of our time. ”

“ Give the people of your State the benefit of this experience. It can be had for the asking. The business men can be depended on to help whenever called upon. They will be particularly ready in this matter which, in proportion as it is successful, will make for good trade and stable business conditions; and the Conservation [Pg 262] of our natural resources stands for more stable business conditions year after year, in that it tends to reduce the chances of losing our new wealth in crops just when it seems to be practically sure. ”

“ CHAPTER XXXII THE TREND OF CIVILIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES
The Economic Outlook.—The natural resources of forest, mines, and agriculture are gradually being depleted. The rapidity of movement in the economic world, the creation of wealth by vast machinery, and the organization of labor and industry are drawing more and more from the wealth stored by nature in her treasure-houses. ”

“ This should happen within the framework of sustainable management of natural resources, elimination of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, and early stabilization of the world population. ”

“ The first Basic Fact—not first in order of creation, but first in our perceptions of Economic necessity—is Man. Without Man, Economics could have neither incentive nor power, neither cause nor effect.
The second Basic Fact is Natural Resources, without which Man could not exist. Natural Resources comprise the surface of our globe, together with all natural objects external to Man and in their natural condition, upon the surface, under the surface, and above the surface, including the air surrounding the surface. ”

“ Maintaining such production-nearly onetwelfth of the world's output of major agriculture commodities-requires careful stewardship of natural resources and capital, flexibility in responding to the vagaries of weather and the vicissitudes of the international marketplace, unparalleled mastery of many skills, and the continuous support of research institutions. ”

“ What is true of land is true of the natural resources of the country-coal, minerals, oil, gas, waterpower, forests. These were seized, with a small payment or none, by the early comers, and sold later at a great advance, or worked for an increasing profit by the owner. ”

“ But while this economic environment, the dominant factor in human life, is the child of the brain of man, man in its creation has been forced to work within strict limitations. He had to make it out of the materials furnished him in the first place by the natural environment and later by the natural environment and the inherited economic environment, so that in the last analysis the material and economic factors are supreme. ”

“ All Economic details, the familiar and the unfamiliar, the obvious and the mysterious, the known and the unknown, generalize with precision into the three Basic Facts of Economics—Artificial Objects, Natural Resources and Man.
Natural Resources are the source and the indispensable condition at every stage, from beginning to end, in the production of every kind of satisfaction for human wants. Man is the active agent at all stages. Artificial Objects constitute the category into which each result generalizes at each stage of production. ”

“ Industry extracts materials from the natural resource base and inserts both products and pollution into the human environment. It has the power to enhance or degrade the environment; it invariably does both. (See Chapter 2 for a discussion of the concept of sustainable development within the context of industry and resource use.) ”

“ The farm itself really consists of a combination of Artificial Objects and Natural Resources—that is to say, of Wealth and also of Land—two radically different things as matter of Economic discrimination. Its site is a Natural Resource, its untilled soil is a Natural Resource, the space which it and its surrounding atmosphere occupy are Natural Resources. All those characteristics are in the Land category. ”